Many digital marketing experts argue of a strong connection that exists between SEO and social media. In many ways, it is true. Search engine optimization efforts can be strengthened and enhanced with a wide range of social media practices. Off late, search engines emphasize much importance in observing the social side of the brand/business. Indeed, it closely monitors the behavior of brand followers in social media.
The way search engines determine their rankings have evolved to a far greater extent, and its consideration of social signals as one of the ranking factor is a testament to its evolution.
Let’s explore how social media marketing adds value to SEO efforts.
Value # 1 Contribute to Direct traffic and building of indirect links
Content marketed on some of the popular social media sites yield huge traction in the form of increased traffic given the audience base associated with the respective social media channel. This increase in traffic will be highly beneficial for branding and subsequently to enhance the brand exposure. Though the link value offered by social media sites aren’t that great, the increased editorial link value attained upon sharing will impact the search rankings positively.
Value # 2 Link building through social channels
Search engines attach much credence to social media links. In fact, links gained through social media fall under the high-quality category. This can be attributed to the fact that social media sites command a strong web authority. Incorporate your website link in the content as well as across all social profiles. It is extremely critical to capitalize on social media channels.
For every article or blog, create an alternate video content and incorporate the link in the post to be published. Then go about in sharing it with video uploading sites like You Tube and those that carries increased web authority. Definitely, you can witness an upsurge in traffic as well as increase in the search rankings.
Value # 3 Integrate your social profile into the search results
With interesting updates being incorporated into the search processing, search engines have started showcasing the social side of the business/brand in the search results. Nowadays, it is very normal to witness videos, map listings and business reviews in the search results upon inputting a keyword in the search query. Hence, social media presence can strengthen the exposure of the brand in search results, which will be highly beneficial. Syndicating to social sites is mandatory for modern SEO.
Value # 4 Increase in search query volume
If you want to blow your trumpet, there is no better option other than social media. By showcasing your brand through social media advertising, you are indirectly increasing the audience base for your brand, and subsequently the brand awareness quotient. Once awareness is achieved, people searching for your brand in search engine increases manifold. From search engine point of view, increased searches indicate the brand’s popularity and hence it accords higher rankings in SERP. However, it depends on the search query.
Value # 5 Faster indexing through Direct links
Links obtained from social media sites are highly worthy given the direct SEO links that come along with it. Whilst many of these links are embedded with a no follow tag, there are some links that don’t contain the tag. The other advantage with social media links is that search engines crawl social media sites on a more frequent basis and links contained in it are easily recognized by search bots making the indexing process faster.
The above five highlighted values are those that Social media marketing offers for SEO. However, thoughtful and strategic implementation plan is very much required so as to derive the maximum benefits for SEO through social media marketing. It is high time that brands try its luck with social media marketing so as to improve its visibility online. Do keep in mind that search engines have become highly sophisticated these days. In order to decipher what is popular and credible, they rely on social media.